140G0325Q0244_-_SOW_1.pdf

Statement of Work Tribal Resilience Action Database

A. Proposal Cover Pages, Project Summary, and Plain Language Summary

Keywords: Tribes, Resilience, Action

Project Summary: The CASC recently funded the creation of a Tribal Resilience Action Database (tribalresilienceactions.org). This project looks to build on this initial investment by expanding the database to incorporate additional Tribal resilience actions; expand outreach and awareness of the database; expanding the use of storytelling throughout the web portal; and investing in the creation of value added products and resources in the web portal. Value added products will help make the database more useful and usable by Tribes, Indigenous Communities, Alaskan Native Villages, and others across the country.

Plain Language Public Summary:

Publicly available databases are useful repositories for a number of different fields of study in Tribal communities. These tools provide a Tribal professional with the information they need to help the community find the right answer to complex issues.

In the case of preparing for extreme weather and reducing the risks of hazards, Tribal communities across the country are dealing with myriad risks of wildfire, flooding, heat waves, droughts, etc. The Tribal Resilience Action Database (TRAD) is intended to support the work of Tribal professionals implementing resilience actions that benefit their communities and protect their members and their plant and animal relatives.

Tribal communities support their members and their homelands by implementing actions that support natural processes, protect critical infrastructure from known risks (e.g. flooding, wildfire, drought), and develop risk assessments for stochastic events.

The most problematic feature of resilience planning is that there are a wide variety of responses that a community can take and many of them require significant investment in the initial phases of development.

The improvements proposed for the TRAD will ensure the continuity of services to the nearly 60 participating Tribes, allow for the expansion of services to more Tribes across the country, and provide up-to-date applications that make the database more 'user-friendly.' With dozens of Tribes providing information on TRAD, there is a virtual exchange of indigenous ways of knowing and experiences from Tribes. At its heart, the TRAD is an action-oriented tool that a tribal professional can use to develop actions that will benefit their community in the coming decades.

B. Scope of Work

Objectives/Justification:

Additional investments in the shared Tribal Resilience Action Database (TRAD) will build and expand awareness of the Database and help make it more useful and usable by Tribal leaders and staff across the country. The current TRAD incorporates resilience actions from more almost 60 Tribes across the country. These actions are designed to enhance natural and cultural resources, invest in infrastructure, and protect the health and vitality of their communities. The initial investments in the creation of the web portal (www.tribalresilienceactions.org), along with the extensive outreach and engagement with Tribal communities, has made searching and finding relevant actions more accessible. We proposed to continue to build on this past work, expand the outreach, incorporate more actions, and enhance the ability to use the web portal and access the actions. This project brings together Tribal consortia and experienced Tribal and technical advisors to build off recent investments and improve the database of actions.

Geographic Scope: The project will be led by the Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation based in the Pacific Northwest Region, but the tool and resources will be available to support Tribes across the country.

Commitments:

This project is going to be a combination of outreach and engagement; Tribally led storytelling, and technical development of TRAD.

Engagement and Outreach

● Tribal Advisory Group – We propose to formalize the Tribal Advisory Group that helped guide the initial creation of the database and web portal. Advisory group members from Tribes and Tribal Partners will be selected and receive a stipend for participating in quarterly advisory group.

● Outreach Specialist and Interns – This funding will be used to support a part time position to coordinate and conduct outreach around the database. This will include developing content and training materials as well as leading webinars and participating in conferences.

● New Outreach Content – The project team will develop an outreach packet with flyers, social media posts, a short PowerPoint presentation, and webinar style training materials that can be used to share the release of the Tribal Resilience Action Database. This content will be shared with partners. Content from the Tribally Led Storytelling will be packaged and shared (with permissions) through these outreach materials, social media, and the web portal.

Tribally Led Storytelling Storytelling is a critical part of Tribal community life and one of the areas where the web portal needs additional investments. We expect to augment the web portal with a mix of static and dynamic storytelling.

● Photos and Quotes – The engagement specialist will work with Tribes whose plans are included in the database to conduct five interviews, gathering relevant photos, and identify specific quotes that can be used to help tell the stories of the Tribe. A short interview summary (photo and quotes) that can be integrated throughout the web portal or used on social media to support outreach around the web portal. The engagement specialist would secure permissions to use and share this information.

http://www.tribalresilienceactions.org/

● Video Storytelling – The team will look for opportunities to integrate existing video footage from communities as these videos could help broaden the reach of the web portal and provide a platform for Tribes to share their resilience stories.

Additional Technical Investments The team will collect recommendations for value-added products would ideally support information sharing, seamlessly fit into users' workflows, and add to the efficiency of their products and planning process. We see initial investments in the following areas.

● Tracking, Coding, and Adding Tribal Resilience Actions - Tribes have continued to update, construct, and publish action plans. Including these newly completed plans will require direct outreach to the Tribes and then reviewing and tagging the adaptation actions. The goal is to annually incorporate all new and relevant plans in the database.

● Data Visualization – With input and guidance from the advisory group, we will explore adding select data visualization for the applicability of different actions in different contexts.